There’s many aspects of Eurovision, there’s the music, there’s the fanfare, there’s the staging, and then there’s the crazy costumes. Over the years, Eurovision has seen some borderline ridiculous costumes, but in the context of Eurovision, this is never a bad thing. We’ve gone back in the history books to discover some of the contests’ most crazy costumes, starting from 2005 – we’re going Kyiv to Kyiv (well, Kyiv to Stockholm technically, but Kyiv to Kyiv sounds a little better). With so many crazy costumes, it was impossible to choose only five in all those years, we’ve split this post up in three parts. Today, in part one, we’ll be looking at the crazy costumes from 2005 to 2008. Without further ado, here are our top 5!
5. Laka – Pokusaj
Coming in at fifth place is the very eccentric performer Laka, who represented Bosnia & Herzegovina in the 2008 edition of the contest which was held in Belgrade, Serbia. In the context of the performance, arguably, Laka has the least crazy costume, as he’s backed by four knitting brides in wedding dresses, and his sister Mirela who has an outrageously puffy skirt with 3D fruit, and don’t forget the giant bow! Laka himself was in a green suit trimmed with yellow, and a yellow and white shirt underneath. It’s a colourful chaos on stage, but it all makes sense, especially considering the energetic and colourful song that Pokusaj is.
4. Pirates of the Sea – Wolves of the Sea
We’re sticking with 2008 for now, as our 4th spot goes to the Latvian pirates. With a name like Pirates of the Sea, you’d expect some serious pirate gear, and Latvia did not disappoint at all. Puffy shirts, tick. Pirate hats, tick. Pirate boots, tick. They’ve even got satin pants, it’s intense stuff. These costumes are definitely accentuated by the song, Wolves of the sea, which as one YouTube commenter described as ‘the type of idiotic song that’s so bad it’s good’ and we don’t disagree. It’s a memorable performance, and the costumes are a big part of that.
3. DQ – Drama Queen
There’s nothing more Eurovision than a costume reveal, and over recent years, we’ve seen less nations indulging in the tradition of the costume change, so we’ve decided to reminisce on an iconic costume change from 2007. Again, like the pirate situation, the name of this song, Drama Queen sort of gives away that the performance is going to be absolutely wild. It starts off very subdued, just a simple drag acts on stage surrounded by guys in casual suits. The pink feathers on the head are an interesting choice, but it all comes together as the black jacket is ripped off to reveal a cute little pink number. Accessorised by some huge jewels and pink gloves, this is a pretty out there costume.
2. Verka Serduchka – Dancing Lasha Tumbai
This is probably the quintessential Eurovision performance, the one people share when they want to sum up Eurovision in 3 minutes. It’s a no brainer to have this in our crazy costumes list, and it doesn’t need too much explanation. After Verka’s Eurovision performance, which put Ukraine into 2nd place, the nation actually had an Aluminium foil shortage, and stocks just couldn’t be replenished for 3 months after the iconic Eurovision performance. Well, all jokes aside, this is a LOT of silver. There’s something about the combination of silver costumes and the flamboyant dance movements by the backing dancers which is a perfect combination of entertaining and cringey, but it’s all part of the act. The backing singers in gold break it up a little bit, but still maintain the high material to sequin ratio.
1. Lordi – Hard Rock Hallelujah
There’s only one act who could beat Verka Serduchka, and not to anyone’s surprise, it’s Finland’s winning act Lordi. Their costumes are so different to what anyone at Eurovision had seen before, and that in combination with the song and overall performance is what led Finland to their first ever Eurovision win. In most, if not all the previous cases in this list, the costumes are specifically for Eurovision, however for Lordi, this is just their normal every day clothing, great for those cold Scandinavian winters. I think potentially Finland would have struggled to receive the same support without the monster costumes, as it adds to the overall performance. As intimidating as the costumes may have been to some people, the actual detail put into the costumes is incredible, although I can just imagine how hot it would be underneath! It’s worthy of the top spot, and if you haven’t watched their performance before, watch and you’ll know exactly why this is our number 1!